Prior Viewings: 1
While Alexander Payne has almost always been able to masterfully combine the heartbreaking with the heartwarming (I'm told Downsizing is the lone exception here, but I haven't seen that one yet), Nebraska comes with an added dose of tenderness. It's even quieter than his usual output, gently capturing the melancholy of the American Midwest through open landscapes and ordinary characters.
This is a movie about the past (hence the beautiful black & white format), about rediscovery, and about possible redemption, and it's all held together by understated storytelling, simple-yet-effective camerawork, and a tremendously vague performance from Bruce Dern. You're never totally sure just how coherent the guy really is, even if his determination is certainly never in question.
I don't think this one quite reaches the same entertaining heights that Sideways and The Holdovers do (though I guess that's kind of the point), but it's still an amusing, emotional, and highly satisfying journey.
Grade: A